1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for arresting the development of fulminating infection in traumatized animal tissue.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The adverse pathological consequences of tissue trauma in humans and other animals, including the trauma induced by surgical procedures, has long been studied with a view to preventing the development of bacterial infections that as a rule do not respond well to antibiotic therapy. In particular, trauma and bleeding in the peritoneum of humans, such as results during abdominal surgery, appears to foster the rapid growth of bacteria that cause fulminating infections, that in the majority of cases, are fatal to the patient.
Experimental observations with animal models, suggest that the hemoglobin in blood in responsible for an acceleration in bacterial growth. In particular, the simultaneous intraperitoneal administration of hemoglobin and the bacterium E. coli to mice resulted in a fulminating septicemia and rapid death that did not occur when either the bacteria or the homoglobin were individually administered.
Efforts to reduce the occurrence and severity of fulminating bacterial infections, have been limited to the curtailment of unwanted bleeding and the physical removal of unwanted blood from the peritoneal area, in conjunction with the administration of antibiotic therapy. Despite such measures, bacterial infections that develop in this area continue to move rapidly out of control, and frequently are fatal to the patient.
A need therefore exists for a safe and rapid treatment to prevent the fatal spread of bacterial infection in such situations.